Alliances Across the Universe
by Dirty Reid
Summary: The clash of chakra ripped a hole in the dimensional walls, sucking Naruto into its depths. Thirteen years later he comes crashing through the atmosphere, backed by humans and alien creatures, claiming a war to end all wars is upon them.
1. Contact

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Alliances Across the Universe

**A Naruto and Halo crossover by Dirty Reid**

**Author's Note: Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize for any mistakes I make. I do enjoy Halo, but I am not a total Halo freak, so to all of you hardcore fans out there, sorry if I offend you with an error.**

**Please also note that while they do not appear in the original Halo trilogy, I will be using vehicles and devices from the RTS game, Halo Wars.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Halo franchise, or any material I borrow from Red vs. Blue; trust me, there will be a lot of it.**

* * *

It had come down to this.

On one half of the valley, Uchiha Sasuke lit the carved and weathered stone with a malignant greyish light, emitting from the foul ball of energy in his left hand. More unsettling was his now almost sanguine appearance. His skin was a dark brown and his lips were a purplish colour, as though coated with lipstick. The sclera of his eyes were void black, and only the cursed, bloody red of the Sharingan shone, lessened by the three teardrop-shaped tomoe revolving in them. From his back, two giant, webbed hands that acted as wings sprouted, carrying him through the air towards his target.

The target was one Uzumaki Naruto. The orangey-red aura surrounding him did nothing to dampen the colour of his gaudy orange jumpsuit. Said aura was formed in a vaguely vulpine shape, carrying almost rabbit-like ears and a single waving tail. But while the aura took the form of such an adorable animal by nature, it felt the exact opposite. Malignant, malicious, spiteful, terrifying, none of those words could describe the base emotions of fear that the red energy struck into any who could feel it. Not only did the aura instill fear, but so did Naruto's appearance. His hair waved wildly, as though it had a mind of its own. His eyes, once a nice ocean blue were as red as the blood that wreathed the hole in his jumpsuit above his right lung. Cat-like pupils replaced the ordinary circles that most humans were born with. The three marks on each of his cheeks, normally pencil thin lines, had opened up as deep chasms in his face. Positively infernal could only begin to scratch the surface of how evil Naruto looked.

In his right hand, Naruto held a swirling ball of pale blue energy about the size of a small soccer ball. It looked innocent enough, but the energy levels emitting from it could be compared to the gouts of radiation emitted by a pulsar-class star. No doubt, that little blue ball was a weapon meant for arcane destruction.

No words were spoken or war cries bellowed as the two rivals brought their attacks forwards. The energies began to lick at each other, creating bright flares and causing both sets of eyes to close.

It was only when the two attacks connected that the shit truly hit the fan.

A massive pulse of energy radiated out from the two clashing attacks, weakening the density of the air in between them. As the two energy sources continued to clash and pulse, they kept pushing more air and stray atoms away from the very small point where they met. After almost seven seconds of sustained atomic displacement, only a few quarks remained before they too were pushed away from the matter negative zone.

After ten seconds of energy charging, with neither opponent seeming to be close to conceding, only growing in power, the energy of the two jutsu began to pluck at the fabric of space and time itself. Very soon, the energy was beginning to pull at the bond that kept the universe from collapsing on itself, stretching the proverbial fabric to near breaking point.

Two more seconds broke the bond and opened a tiny slit in the space-time fabric. No light burst forth and enveloped the area as it did in the movies; a small black slit simply seemed to open in the air between the two energy sources. It was not terrifying in any way; it simply looked like a tear in a piece of clothing. Sasuke was the first to notice this and pumped more of his foul chakra into his attack. The small black slit began to stretch silently, creating an even darker rift between the two of them. Naruto seemed to be too focused on trying to overpower Sasuke to notice the rift, but was only making it larger by putting more of the red chakra into his attack.

It was only when the rift had grown to be almost a foot long from end to end and began to draw in air did Naruto's extremely primal brain start to notice something was wrong. Sasuke simply grinned evilly.

"This ends here." he thrummed as he lashed out and seized Naruto's arm, pulling him forwards and into the rift. The pressure immediately increased and Naruto gave one final roar before he disappeared through the black void.

Sasuke began to feel the pull towards the black whatever-it-was, but he knew that going in there would not be a good thing. He beat his wings to retreat from the hole, which simply floated there. Sasuke wondered if that rift could be the result of some form of subtle jutsu his possessed opponent had tried to use against him. He continued to ponder as the rift began to knit itself back together.

'_I suppose I will ask Orochimaru about that.'_ Sasuke noted to himself as his form began to change. The wings on his back shrank into his shoulder blades until two fist-sized rips in his shirt were the only indication that something had been there. Everything else was completely normal; even the bruises were gone. But transforming into that beast had drained a great deal of his energy. Using what little strength he had left, he lumbered up the cliff surrounding the Valley of the End, continuing his trudge towards his destiny.

By the time Hatake Kakashi, his accompanying medical shinobi and his canine summon Pakkun had reached the gorge, the rift had closed and they saw nothing but busted or scorched rock.

"Do you think they carried on?" asked one of the medical shinobi. Pakkun, the sardonic little pug, sniffed the air.

"That stink... Ozone." he grumbled as he began his hop down the cliff. "There," he said as he pointed somewhere on the other side of the canyon.

"On the other side?" Kakashi asked.

"No, in the middle of the air. Look carefully." the little dog pointed at where he smelled 'that stink'. Kakashi lifted his headband and scanned the area with his Sharingan.

Sure enough, he saw traces of two chakras. One, the reddish one, he knew all too well. The purplish-grey one felt almost as nasty, but more sinister than angry. At the very centre, there was a slowly shrinking white ovoid.

"Do you think that their chakras clashed and they exploded?" asked a second medic.

"No," Pakkun murmured. "I can smell the Uchiha boy still. He took off that way," Pakkun paused to point northwest, "but the Uzumaki boy, his scent ends right at that point." Kakashi, although he didn't show it, was worried.

'_What happened to you Naruto? Wherever you are, please be okay.'_

* * *

_Date: 0531 hours, April 6, 2540 (12 years before the Halo Event)_

_Location: CASTLE Base_

_Reach_

_Epsilon Eridani System_

_AHWOOGA! AHWOOGA!_

"Warning, warning, in-atmosphere energy pulse detected. Prepare for possible Covenant assault." a robotic female voice blared through Reach's military base. On guard Marines drank up the adrenaline induced by the sudden blare from the alarms and tightened their grips on their guns. Sleeping Marines woke and got to work suiting up. The lights in the armory flared to life and the tremendous fortress' weapon systems blinked online.

Up in the control room of the fortress located two thousand metres below the surface of the Highland Mountain chain, Major Michael Trent activated the radar terminal.

"Computer, instruction: Locate energy source." the black-haired man of thirty-something with a diagonal slash stretching across his face commanded the A.I. system integrated into the base.

"Analyzing... Search complete. Source location: Three miles at two-hundred-ninety-three degrees. Altitude: One-point-two-six miles up, currently descending."

"Power source?" Trent asked.

"Unknown energy emitted by unknown source. Triangulating landing location." The voice went silent and a hologram of a topographic map flickered to life over one of the screens. The fortress was a small red cube in the middle of the screen, located 'inside' Mechanite Mountain until the map began to pan to the left and upwards. A small red blip was flashing on one of the mountain sides, indicating the source had landed between a mountain pass.

"Attempting to attain visual." the computer droned, zooming in on the blip but coming up short. "Visual inaccessible. Object is too small to view."

"To small to view, or cloaked?" Trent asked.

"To small to view." the computer repeated. Trent nodded. He pressed a few buttons and the hologram receded. A large flat screen lit up on the wall and the image of a burly and attentive Marine flickered into view.

"Come in Sergeant Lopez, this is Major Trent. Do you copy?"

"I copy Commander. What's the situation?" Lopez answered.

"We've located the source of the energy pulse. The computer analyzed its status, and it's far too small to even be a Covenant dropship. I want you to take a scout squadron and investigate the crash site. Think you can handle that?"

"Acknowledged. I'll prep the troops immediately." Lopez confirmed with a short salute, which was mirrored by Trent.

"Good. I'm uploading coordinates to the Warthog radar system now. Good luck Sergeant. Trent out." Trent cut the transmission and casually reactivated the topographic hologram, staring intently at the red blip.

'_First the goddamn Covies, now this. How can this war possibly get any worse?'_

* * *

The trip to the mountains was uneventful. Over half of the twenty Marines had complained at least once about being on foot so early in the morning. Lopez was quick to point out that the three Warthogs had their gunner and passenger position filled, and the Scorpion couldn't have any passengers if they happened across something like a Covenant Wraith, some Locusts or a couple of Hunters. The Marines had quickly stopped complaining after a flamethrower unit offered to 'warm them up' and had kept their distance from the UNSC's personal pyromaniacs.

"CASTLE Base, this is Sergeant Lopez, come in CASTLE Base." Lopez activated the Warthog videocam and speakers.

"Copy Sergeant, what's your status?" Major Trent's image answered.

"Homing in on the coordinates. No opposition has been encountered, and _somebody's_ been bitching a little too much for my liking." Lopez turned and stared at the Marines who had been complaining, all of whom stared ahead and clutched their weapons a little tighter.

"Everything's normal then," Trent assessed with a small hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yes sir. Stand by, we're about to get a visual on the source." Lopez turned his attention back to driving as they crested a small ridge in the mountain pass.

"Copy," Trent answered.

Lopez sat up a little straighter as he slowed the Warthog down. The ridge gave way to a small plateau, very dimly lit by the slowly lightening horizon. As Lopez drove his Warthog up further, the Marines cocked their weapons, ready for anything. Lopez looked into the sheltered plateau and spotted an indentation in the uneven stone. Something had crashed there. As he stopped at the top of the ridge and got a look at the centre of the crater, Lopez couldn't believe what he saw.

"What the _hell_?" Lopez breathed. Similar exclamations could be heard from the Marines on the ground, in the 'Hogs and from the pilot's seat of the Scorpion-class tank.

"Sergeant? You got a visual?" Trent prodded. Lopez nodded, still trying to come to terms with what was lying in the centre of the crater.

"Any time you wanna tell me what the hell is going on, feel free." Trent said irritably.

"Sir, you're not gonna believe this but... it's a kid." Lopez answered. There was silence for a moment.

"Say again Sergeant; I'm pretty sure I just heard something crazy buzzing in my ear." Trent snapped.

"I'm serious sir, there's a fucking _human boy_ in the middle of the crater. And... He's glowing red." Lopez added. Trent was silent again for a minute.

"If you're bullshitting me, it's not funny Lopez." he said sternly.

"No word of a lie sir. Approaching now. Warshaw, with me. Everyone else, form a perimeter and keep an eye out." Lopez exited the driver's seat of the Warthog and one of the four medics detached from the crowd of Marines, moving to position themselves around the small plateau. The three Warthogs positioned themselves at 120 degree intervals around the plateau, guns raised to watch for any incoming air units, and the Scorpion's cannon turned around to monitor their exit.

As a medic, Richard Warshaw was one to hang back and wait until the threat was neutralized. Medics were not primarily meant as fighters, and as such, were armed with lighter weapons, usually a simple M6D Magnum and an M7/Caseless SMG. That's not to say that they couldn't be effective.

Richard 'Warlord' Warshaw had proved this several times in his career. The one-eyed man had been through several encounters where he was outnumbered by either a Grunt squad or several Elites. He'd taken more plasma shots than half the Marines in the corps, but then again, he'd also lasted twice as long as any Marine _or_ Orbital Drop Shock Trooper in the corps.

"What d'you think Warshaw?" Lopez asked in a strained voice as he unconsciously tightened his grip on his trusty rifle.

"Well Sarge, after some of the crazy shit I've seen, this ain't as surprising as it should be." Warshaw replied gruffly. As they approached the glowing boy cautiously, Warshaw pulled out his pistol and gently prodded the boy's shoulder. No movement. The medic holstered his gun and slowly crouched to examine the boy.

"Be careful Warshaw," Lopez warned quietly, moving the barrel of his gun in the direction of the glowing body. Warshaw did not reply as he gently probed at the receding red aura surrounding the boy with the pads of his callused fingers.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Lopez curiously. Warshaw shook his head.

"Seems like some kinda energy field. Doesn't stop me from touching him, but it sent some sort of jolt up my arm when I touched it. Nothing's happening to me, so I figure I'm okay."

"How's the kid?" Warshaw took a look at the young blonde's upper torso.

"Trent said he fell from over a mile up, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but the kid's still breathing." Warshaw announced in a tone that suggested he didn't believe what had come out of his mouth either.

"No fucking way!" Lopez exclaimed in disbelief.

"Guess this aura must be keeping him alive or healing him or something." Warshaw hypothesized as he took the kid's broken wrist and checked for a pulse.

"Elevated but weak pulse. You might wanna radio this in Sarge." Warshaw recommended.

"Roger that." _Khhpff! _"CASTLE Base, this is Sergeant Lopez reporting an update on the situation, over."

"This is Major Trent responding Sergeant Lopez, go ahead."

"Like I said sir, it's a kid in the middle of the crater. Blonde hair, ugly orange jumpsuit with a hole above the right lung, three weird... um... whiskers on each of his cheeks and covered in a receding red aura."

"Do you have any idea what the aura is doing?" Trent asked.

"Seems like it's keeping him alive or something." Lopez answered.

"What?"

"No word of a lie sir, the kid's still ali-"

"Major, this is Corporal Warshaw, respond." the medic horned in by activating his own radio.

"Go ahead Corporal."

"Sir, the aura seems to be healing him. One minute his wrist is broken, the next it's completely healed. This is one seriously weird kid." Warshaw responded.

"And I thought fighting an army of aliens was weird." Lopez muttered.

"Does the kid have any ID on him?" Trent asked.

"Checking... Not really. He's got a headband on with some weird insignia on it, but that could just be décor. What're these things?" Warshaw went for the small pouch on the kid's right leg. He whistled a little when he saw the contents.

"Sir, the kid's got a bunch of ninja stars and throwing knives on him." Warshaw informed Trent as he examined the black metal throwing weapons.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

For a moment, the only sound was the faint shuffle of combat boots and the thrum of the Scorpion's engine.

"Sergeant Lopez, bring the kid back to base. I want to run a full diagnostic on him, see who or what he is and where he's from. This is now considered a Level One directive."

"Roger that CASTLE. Lopez out. Saddle up ladies, we're movin' out and taking the kid with us! Double time!" Lopez barked out his command and the marines reformed their tightly-knit group. Warshaw lifted the kid onto his shoulder and set him gently on the forward-right tread of the Scorpion. The scout squadron double timed it back to the base, still making sure that they kept an eye out for any Covenant attracted to the energy the kid was emitting.

* * *

_Date: 0823 hours, April 6, 2540_

_Location: CASTLE Base Infirmary_

_Reach_

_Epsilon Eridani System_

"SASUKE!" Naruto roared as he sprang back up. Or, at least he tried to. He felt a throbbing pain in his wrists and ankles that prevented him from getting up. He looked down at them angrily to find them bound by shiny metal cuffs attached to a hospital bed.

'_I'm back in Konoha?'_ Naruto thought. A quick look around proved his mental question wrong. While he was indeed in a hospital room, it was unlike one he had ever seen before. Instead of a plain wooden door, there was a large slab of steel barring entry and exit from the room. On the walls, devices that looked like large TVs flashed images and words he couldn't read across their screens. Above him was a tiny camera, barely visible. Naruto would not have spotted it if it wasn't for the blinking green light.

'_That's a tiny camera. Whatever village I'm in must have some pretty high tech stuff.'_ Naruto noted. Five minutes later, he nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud buzzing sound emitted from the door. Several latches came unlatched and the door noiselessly slid open. Naruto looked on, still shaken by the abruptness of the noise.

Two people strode into the room. The first was a man of thirty-something. He had short cropped black hair and there was a notable scar stretching from the right half of his forehead, across his nose and stretching to the left side of his chin. There was some sort of microphone/speaker in his ear as well. His stern grey eyes told Naruto that this man was a seasoned fighter with many years of combat under his belt. He wore a light grey uniform that was tailored to fit him snugly, and bore an insignia depicting some sort of bird with its wings spread, underlined by a banner of words that Naruto could not read. Above the insignia were two shiny medallions made of silver and bronze metal respectively, both with multicoloured fabric that was pinned to his uniform.

Following him was a second man. This one was rather grizzled looking and appeared to be in his fifties. He had an eyepatch over his left eye, which was brown, judging by his right eye's colour, reminding Naruto of Kakashi-sensei. Atop his head was a helmet with a visor that somehow seemed to be retracted. He wore a brownish uniform that was overlaid by a shiny almost tan-coloured chestpiece which was connected to a pair of shoulder and arm guards. He had a small pack on his back. A large black belt extended around his waist. In the belt was an array of devices and materials. The only items Naruto recognized were gauze, surgical knives and needles. There were a couple of vials, some sort of device with a screen, and hanging over the man's right hip was some sort of black device in a holster; probably a weapon. Looking down at the man's legs, also armoured in some spots, Naruto noticed a second holstered weapon, this one not as long.

For a moment, the two men simply stared at Naruto before they began to speak to him in a language that Naruto could not understand.

"Umm, I can't understand what you're saying." Naruto replied uncertainly. The two men cocked one eyebrow apiece (Although in the one-eyed man's case, he could only cock one eyebrow) before they turned to each other and began to converse.

* * *

"Did you get a word of that?" asked Trent. Warshaw looked as though he were thinking.

"I'm ninety percent sure that that was Japanese." The grizzled medic answered to his superior. Trent's second eyebrow joined his first up near his forehead.

"We wouldn't happen to have someone who speaks Japanese here, would we? I'm pretty sure that the A.I. wasn't programmed to have a language translator function in it." Trent muttered. Warshaw nodded absently while he continued to think. After about twenty seconds of silence, the grizzled medic looked back up.

"Call for Sugimoto, he'll be able to help." Trent nodded and pushed the com button on his headset.

"Private Sugimoto, please report to the med bay, ward 0-012 immediately. Sugimoto to ward 0-012." Trent clicked his headset off and tried to mime to the young boy to wait for a minute. The kid looked like the simple hand gestures were quantum physics equations, but luckily, the solution to the language barrier problem arrived just as the kid looked like he was about to hurt himself by thinking too hard. Its name was Ataru Sugimoto **(Seeing as I'm writing this part of the story more or less from Trent and Warshaw's point of view, I'll be putting Sugimoto and Naruto's given name first, unless Sugimoto is speaking to Naruto or vice versa.)**.

"Private Sugimoto reporting for duty sir." the squat man announced, snapping to a salute, returned by the Major and the Corporal.

"Thank you for coming so quickly private." Trent thanked the semi-revered man. Sugimoto had been in the service of the UNSC for about ten months now. He stood about 5'4"; not much taller than a Covenant Grunt. His black hair was always messy and he didn't have the best build for a marine, but he was still a very efficient soldier. In his first skirmish against the Covenant, he had ended up facing an Elite wielding an Energy Sword and a Needler armed with only an M6D Magnum Sidearm. Using his small size and the speed that went with it, Sugimoto had evaded the sword's blows and most of the rounds from the Needler, all the while clubbing the Elite with his pistol whenever he could. After he had weakened the shields fast enough, he had unloaded the pistol's eight rounds into the alien, effectively killing it. That single deed gave Sugimoto great praise from his superiors, made even more impressive because he had done it with a fractured tibia.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked before he laid eyes on the kid in the tattered orange jumpsuit.

"That kid only speaks Japanese. For now, we'll need you to serve as our interpreter. Think you can do that?" Trent asked. Sugimoto nodded.

"Yes sir. Draw up a chair and we'll get to know the kid." Sugimoto said as he pulled on one of the stools by the kid's bed. Said boy was watching him nervously.

"Hello boy," Sugimoto began in Japanese, making the boy perk up when he heard someone speaking his language. "My name is Sugimoto Ataru. I'm going to be your interpreter for the time being, because those two cannot speak our language." The blonde boy nodded.

"I noticed." he replied with a little grin. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto by the way." he added. Sugimoto nodded with a small smile and turned back to Trent and Warshaw.

"He says his name is Naruto Uzumaki." Sugimoto translated. Trent nodded as he turned and walked to a small screen on the wall. He pressed a few buttons on the screen and spoke into it.

"Computer, instruction: Begin recording." he commanded. The word 'CONFIRMED' appeared on the screen before an aerial image of the room appeared along with a timer. Naruto was watching curiously.

"Who are those two, and what did he just do?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, this is Major Michael Trent." Sugimoto pointed at the younger man in the crisp grey uniform who had returned to Naruto's bedside. Trent gave a sort of half-smile before he bowed. "He is the commanding officer of this facility. What he just did was activate the camera above us to record our conversation in here. The man beside him is Corporal Richard Warshaw of the UNSC Medical Division." Warshaw gave Naruto a lopsided grin and a short nod. The blonde, after wondering what the 'UNSC Medical Division' was, looked like he was about to laugh.

"Those are funny names." Naruto said while trying to contain a chuckle. Trent and Warshaw frowned.

"What's so funny?" Warshaw asked. Sugimoto sighed.

"He says you two have funny names." the private translated. Trent's face was unchanged.

"Well, tell him we think the same about him, so don't start shooting your mouth off." Trent ordered. Warshaw rolled his eye.

"Don't you think that's a little immature sir?" he asked. Trent shrugged.

"Are you complaining?"

"No,"

"Didn't think so."

Sugimoto shook his head a little bit and turned back to the blonde.

"What were they whispering about?" he asked.

"They took offense to you finding their names funny. They also told me that they find yours amusing too, so it would be best not to insult them again." Sugimoto warned him. Naruto pouted in a way that would have made women go 'aww' but sadly, none were present.

"All fun aside, I'm guessing that you have a tonne of questions you want answered. Let me assure you Naruto, the feeling is mutual. For now, we will approach this like a game. You ask us one question, we answer the best we can, and then we ask you one question, which we want you to answer to the best you can. We will keep trading questions until you have none left to ask. Sound fair?" Sugimoto asked. Naruto looked at him hard for a second before nodding slowly.

"What did you just ask him?" Warshaw questioned.

"I told him that we're going to be trading questions and answers. He asks one, we answer, then we get to ask and he answers. Acceptable solution Major?" Sugimoto asked. Trent nodded.

"Okay Naruto, Major Trent agrees to our little 'game'. Why don't you ask the first question," Sugimoto stated more than he suggested as he pushed one of the screens by Naruto's bedside. The restraints on his wrists and ankles retracted and the blonde hummed in relief as he rubbed the raw flesh.

"Thanks," he said to Sugimoto.

"No problem," the marine said in return.

"Okay, first question: Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the CASTLE Facility on Reach." Sugimoto informed him. Naruto looked completely lost. He opened his mouth to ask a question but closed it when he remembered it was Sugimoto's turn.

"He asked where he was, didn't he." Trent said to Sugimoto.

"Yes sir. Anything in particular you want me to ask him?"

"Yes. How that red aura had something to do with keeping him alive after he fell from so far up." Trent ordered. Sugimoto nodded and turned back to the blonde.

"Major Trent wants to know how that red aura of yours kept you alive after you fell from over a mile upwards." Sugimoto gave the question to Naruto. Of all the reactions the marines expected, the one they least expected was fear.

"You saw that?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Corporal Warshaw did. He said that the aura appeared to be healing you after you crashed into the mountains." Sugimoto said before he turned to his superiors.

"He seems kinda nervous about telling us about that aura." Sugimoto informed them.

"I still want to know what it is Private." Trent returned.

"Naruto, Major Trent would like to know what that aura was, no matter what. If we could do research on it, it could help turn the tide of the war." Sugimoto told the blonde. Naruto gulped and braced himself for their responses.

"Okay... um... ya see... I've got the spirit of a demon sealed inside of me." Naruto spilled out his answer so fast that Sugimoto had to run the sentence through his head a couple of times before he understood it.

"A demon spirit? How is that possible?" Sugimoto asked.

"I thought everyone knew this story." Naruto said in a surprised tone.

"Maybe where you're from." Sugimoto retorted.

"Well, twelve years ago, the Kyuubi no Yoko, the demon spirit inside me, was attacking my village, a place called Konoha. Nobody could stop it until the Yondaime Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village, came along and ripped its spirit out of its body and sealed it into a newborn baby: Me. Since it dies if I die, the fox heals my injuries whenever it needs to." Naruto explained. Sugimoto looked like he didn't believe a word Naruto had just said.

"Hey, I didn't think that you could tell cameras what to do an expect them to do it." Naruto snapped. Sugimoto just looked even more weirded out before he turned back to Trent and Warshaw.

"Sir, you're probably gonna think this is a line of bullshit, but whatever. He says that twelve years ago, a nine-tailed demon fox attacked his village, a place called the Leaf. This demon couldn't be stopped until the village leader, the Fourth Fire Shadow- who was supposedly the strongest ninja in the village- jumped in, ripped the fox's spirit out of its body and sealed it into Naruto, who had just been born." Sugimoto recited. Trent's right eyebrow had shot up and Warshaw looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Sounds like they're more wizards than ninjas. We'll get the details out of him with the next question." Trent whispered to Warshaw, who nodded.

"Fair enough. Your question Naruto." Sugimoto stated. Naruto looked as though he was thinking of what to ask next.

"What is 'CASTLE Facility' and where the hell is Reach? There's nowhere called Reach near where I come from." Naruto explained. Sugimoto turned and started to chat with Trent and Warshaw. Sugimoto turned back to Naruto after talking with his superiors for a few seconds.

"I think we're going to have to change the 'game' a little bit Naruto, because at this rate, we'll never get out of here. I'll answer your question now, and when I've explained it well enough to you and you're ready to move on, I'll ask you a question and you have to explain it to me until we're ready for the next question. Okay?" Sugimoto asked. Naruto nodded.

"Okay Naruto, CASTLE is a fortress controlled by the United Nations Space Command, UNSC for short, which is an organization controlled by a collection of planets to preserve order in the galaxy." Sugimoto explained. Naruto's eyes went wide after he processed what he had just heard.

"There are people on other planets?" he asked. Sugimoto was starting to get a little irritated.

"What backwater shithole were you raised on?" he asked a little more sharply than he intended.

"Um, Earth. Why?" Naruto asked looking even more confused.

"Naruto, Earth is the biggest power holder in the UNSC. It's where the UNSC was created. And for the record, there was never any village recorded bearing the title of Konoha which housed ninjas." Sugimoto explained before he went and repeated his words in Trent and Warshaw's language. Both of them looked a little surprised at the blonde's 'ignorance'. Naruto made an 'Oh!' sound, as though he had just recalled some important detail.

"Yes Naruto?" Sugimoto asked.

"I think I know how I got here. Ya see, I was in the middle of a fight with my rival Sasuke, and we had two attacks going at the same time. They were clashing, and some sort of hole opened in the air. It opened wide enough and Sasuke pulled me through it. Next thing I know, I wake up here." Naruto recalled in a manner that seemed to be almost a distant memory. His mind at work, Warshaw theorized that the aura somehow toyed with his memory.

"Ask him what he means by 'two attacks'." Trent instructed. He had a theory of what might have happened, but he needed further evidence to prove it.

"Naruto, by 'two attacks' what do you mean?" Sugimoto asked. Naruto looked at Sugimoto like he was retarded but schooled his features as though something had just occurred to him.

"I mean two attacks that use chakra. That red aura you saw around me was the demon's chakra, but human chakra is blue. Chakra is... it's kind of hard to explain. It's sort of like a ninja's life energy that we naturally make. If we run out of it, we die. But we can train ourselves to have a lot of it, so we also use it for our jutsu." Naruto explained. Sugimoto turned and translated Naruto's words to his commanding officers. They spoke to him at length, Warshaw more so than Trent, and he finally turned back.

"Well Naruto, Corporal Warshaw has a theory on how you ended up here and why we have no record of this 'Konoha' or any ninja-run establishments. But first, Major Trent would like to see you perform one of these 'jutsu' to test that theory." Sugimoto explained. Naruto shrugged and stood up. Warshaw, Trent and Sugimoto watched with interest as he placed his right hand palm up and looked like he was palming the air above it with his left. All three of their hands jerked for their weapons when Naruto forcefully said 'Rasengan!' and created a blast of bluish energy.

Imagine their surprise when a floating ball of bluish energy began to spin on the palm of the blonde's hand. Observing it closely, Warshaw discerned it to be a ball of compressed 'chakra' spinning in multiple directions. He didn't know if it would be effective against an Elite energy shield or even a vehicle, but he didn't want to risk anything.

"What is that thing?" Trent asked with awe evident in his voice. Sugimoto voiced the question. Naruto answered in Trent's voice and Sugimoto took a moment to respond.

"It's called the 'Spiraling Sphere', and it's a ball of chakra that can, according to him, put a hole clean through a human." Sugimoto translated. Warshaw's eyebrow went back up and Trent whistled before he said something else to Sugimoto.

"Major Trent would like you to show him the Rasengan's power." Sugimoto translated.

"On what?" Naruto asked. Sugimoto asked Trent and received an answer.

"Just use it on the wall." Naruto shrugged and walked over to the wall. He cocked his arm back and thrust the glowing ball of energy into the steel. Trent felt his mouth drop open when the bluish ball plowed straight through the two foot thick wall with what seemed to be little to no resistance.

"Holy _shit_!" Warshaw exclaimed. Sugimoto nodded. Trent turned back to the medic and looked at him expectantly.

"Does that help with your theory Corporal?" he asked. Warshaw's face hardened even more for a moment.

"Yes sir. I think I have a solid theory now." Warshaw announced. Sugimoto said something to Naruto and turned to his superior, listening intently.

"Based on the Spiraling Sphere's ability to push matter out of its path, and this other attack which is likely similar, my theory is that the two attacks created a very small area where there were absolutely no atoms. The lack of atoms created a vacuum and began to weaken the bonds of space and time, which separated the dimension that Naruto was in with our own. Eventually the bonds got so weak that they broke, opening a rift in the fabric of space and time. Naruto got pulled through that rift, and by some astronomical chance, he ended up here instead of outer space or a black hole, or some shit like that." Warshaw explained. Trent and Sugimoto had blank looks on their faces.

"Y'know... that actually makes sense." Sugimoto admitted.

"Yeah. I was expecting some random shit but that actually sounds like it might work." Trent added. Warshaw looked at him weird for a second before Sugimoto started explaining to Naruto how he got here.

"What's a dimension?" Naruto asked. If he could have, Sugimoto would have sweatdropped.

"Okay, um... you know how in your dreams, things are different from the real world?" he began. Naruto nodded. "Well, a different dimension is like a dream. Thing is, you can't control it. In a nutshell, dimensions are similar, but different rules apply." Sugimoto explained.

"Different rules?" Naruto repeated. Sugimoto was starting to get annoyed.

"Hmm... At least tell me you know about gravity." he hoped and prayed that he didn't have to explain the concept of gravity to the primitive blonde idiot.

"Yeah, it's what keeps us on the ground. What about it?" Naruto asked.

Score! "Well Naruto, in an alternate dimension, Earth could have a weaker gravity. You could jump higher or farther, run faster and weigh less. Or, gravity could be stronger. That means that you couldn't jump as high or as far, run slower, and weigh more. Starting to get the idea of an alternate dimension?" Sugimoto asked hopefully. Naruto looked rather awed.

"Yeah, I think I get it now: Things change in alternate dimensions." Naruto said. Sugimoto almost pumped his fist into the air as he repeated his conversation with Naruto to Trent and Warshaw.

"Umm, Sugimoto-san?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Yes Naruto?" the private asked.

"Um, earlier you said something about a war. Could you tell me about it?" Naruto asked.

"What did he say?" Trent asked.

"He asked about the war." Sugimoto answered before he launched into the story of struggling against the alien army known as the Covenant. Many times, Naruto asked Sugimoto to clarify some things, such as how ships flew, what slipspace was and what a gun was and how it worked.

Eventually, Sugimoto covered the story of the epic battles between humanity and the union of alien creatures that had been going on since 2525. By the end of the story, Naruto looked as though he were thinking seriously again.

"Something on your mind Naruto?" Sugimoto asked. Naruto snapped out of his haze and looked seriously at the marine.

"Who do I talk to about joining the UNSC?" Naruto asked. Sugimoto raised one of his eyebrows.

"What'd he say?" Warshaw asked.

"He asked to join the UNSC." Sugimoto answered. Trent almost couldn't stop his mouth from opening a little bit.

"Are you sure you want to join the army Naruto? It's a very dangerous job. The Covenant won't hesitate to kill you on sight, regardless of you being a civilian or part of the UNSC." Sugimoto warned him. Naruto stared hardly at the Marine.

"I'm from another dimension I'm probably never going to see again. As for the danger part, see this hole in my jacket? That's where I got stabbed through the lung and lived. No stinkin' aliens are gonna stop me." Naruto explained in a firm voice as he stared at Sugimoto, Trent and Warshaw.

"I've got nothing to lose."

* * *

**Ladies and gentlemen, the revised chapter to Alliances Across the Universe!**

**For the record, Michael Trent, Richard Warshaw and Ataru Sugimoto are figments of my imagination. Just in case some of you were wondering.**

**Please leave me a review to** **tell me what you think. BUT...**

**If you're going to leave me a review, TELL ME WHY YOU LIKED THE STORY! I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I HATE PEOPLE JUST SAYING 'Great chapter' or 'Update soon'! IT'S LIKE A FUCKING SLAP TO THE FACE!**

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**1) Tell me if you liked the story or not.**

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**Good day,**

**Dirty Reid**


	2. Welcome to the War Pt 1

**Alliances Across the Universe**

**By: Dirty Reid**

**Hello, loyal fans! Thank you for your patience in waiting for this new installment.**

**January 6, 2010: 117 reviews! Lucky number!**

**As an addition to the addendum in my last chapter, with the release of Halo 3: ODST and the upcoming release of Halo: Reach, I will also include several weapons and objects from those games.**

**I've said it before and I'll say it again, please see the end of this chapter for a walkthrough on how to make a constructive review.**

**And please see my profile for information on my new Challenge fic!**

**Chapter 2: Welcome to the War Pt. 1**

* * *

Tsunade's heart refused to slow as she waited for the return of Kakashi. He had been dispatched with a team of medics to catch up with the Genin Recovery squad, and provide support if necessary. This was nearly two days ago.

As she drummed her fingers against the messy desk in her hospital office, it took her a second to notice Shizune opening the door.

"Shizune?" she asked listlessly. Her short-haired apprentice cleared her throat.

"Kakashi and his team returned ten minutes ago." She stated. Tsunade's heart skipped two beats before she was able to manage to say "Send him in."

Kakashi entered her office with his head bowed. His gait was listless. Tsunade's still beat-skipping heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach.

"What's the word?" she managed to croak. Kakashi did not raise his head.

"Neji and Chouji are in critical condition; Shikamaru and Kiba suffered minor injuries, and the Suna Siblings were unharmed, so they are returning home." He stated flatly. His leaving Naruto out only made Tsunade's fear grow.

"And… Naruto?" she breathed. Kakashi was still for a moment.

"… We don't know what happened to him. Sasuke managed to get away, but we found no trace of Naruto. The only thing I know is that something strange happened in the Valley. When I surveyed the area with my Sharingan, it looked like there was some sort of… scar in the air that smelled like ozone." The Cyclops finished. Tsunade barely heard him. She was staring straight ahead, her face frozen in horror and sorrow.

The necklace had claimed another of her loved ones.

Shizune did nothing to jar Tsunade from her daze. She had buried her face in her hands and started to cry. Kakashi remained standing, keeping his head down to hide his unfallen tears.

Some minutes later, "Kakashi," Tsunade began weakly, fighting the lump in her throat. The man looked up. "Inform the gravekeeper that Naruto's name is to be placed on the KIA Stone, and a small monument of him is to be erected, titled 'Konoha's Saviour'. Any and all objections to this and anyone who desecrates the monument are to be punished by death. Understood?" She finished firmly.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kakashi affirmed before he marched out the door.

* * *

_Date: 1322 hours, June 7, 2540 (12 years before the Halo Event)_

_Location: CASTLE Base_

_Reach_

_Epsilon Eridani System_

Two months had passed since the blonde ninja Naruto had fallen through space-time and into the arms of the UNSC. In those two months, Sugimoto had accompanied the blonde wherever he went, as both an interpreter and a watcher. Though he said he wished to pledge allegiance to the UNSC, Trent still felt that he needed to keep the boy under constant surveillance. The ONI personnel arriving didn't do anything to ease him.

Trent blinked out of his recollection as the door to his office slid open. A black man Trent identified as Dr. Darius Mirshahi, an old friend, entered the room briskly and greeted Trent with a salute. The Major returned the gesture crisply.

"It's good to see you again Mike." Mirshahi said with a small smile. Trent mirrored the grin. It was true; it was good to see an old friend again. Trent and Mirshahi had become good friends with each other in high school on their homeworld, Dis; a small, mostly volcanic planet in the Betelgeuse system. While Trent had enlisted in the UNSC after flunking out of Epicurus University, Mirshahi had continued on, graduating with a doctorate in engineering. It was only in 2528 when Trent had been promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and had been brought in with several squads for a lecture on several captured Covenant weapons did he see Mirshahi again. At the time, Trent expressed great happiness at seeing his old friend again, climbing the ranks of the ONI Research and Development Department. Since that day in 2528, Trent and Mirshahi had seen each other only a handful of times, often with several years between each reacquainting.

"You too Darius," Trent replied, extending his hand and shaking Darius'. Mirshahi looked at the patch on Trent's shoulder; a seven-leaved clover.

"Major, huh? How long've you had that tacked on?" Mirshahi asked with a larger smile, his ponytail full of corn rows dancing about.

"Been a commissioned officer for about four years. Got to Major nine months ago. I'm only keeping the commanding officer chair here warm until the higher-ups send another Colonel out." Trent answered with a self-depreciating grin. Darius forced himself not to make a smart-ass remark.

"We'll have to save the rest of the catching up for later Darius. Right now, I need the report on Naruto." Trent said quietly. Mirshahi nodded and produced a small data core. He quietly plugged it into the holographic table and entered several codes.

"Well, off the record, he's quite a specimen Major." Mirshahi began as a three-dimensional, wire-frame image of the blonde boy popped up. Its arms were extended and its legs were straight, mimicking the shape of a cross.

"Can you tell me anything in more detail?" Trent asked, barely restraining his curiosity.

"Well, on the physical level, he's comparable to that of an Olympic athlete. His reflexes are at levels unheard of in natural humans, his resting heart rate is forty-three beats per minute, and his muscular system is approximately 14.22% more dense than even the most conditioned athletes. If he had dropped onto Reach twenty-five or so years earlier, he'd have been a shoo-in for the SPARTAN Project." Mirshahi stated. Trent blinked.

"What about that energy… 'Chakra' he called it? He seemed to be able to do some pretty powerful stuff with it." Trent prompted, remembering that 'Spiraling Sphere' attack that had punched a hole in the wall of his ward; that hole that had come out of Trent's paycheck. Darius' chestnut eyes began to glitter.

"_That_ my friend was the single most amazing moment of scientific discovery in my career." Mirshahi said breathlessly. "I don't fully understand it still, but every cell in his body produces that 'chakra' almost the same way the Krebs Cycle produces ATP. To add to that, he seems to have a sort of telepathic control over it, and can focus it into weapons like that Spiraling Sphere you described. We still aren't fully sure, but the general theory is that this chakra is pure, unspecialized energy, because the kid says that it can be converted to different elements like fire or lightning." Mirshahi stopped to take a breath. "A couple others on the research team keep saying we should call it mana, because it can be used to manipulate earth and water as well, like some sort of magical energy." Trent raised an eyebrow.

"It's like it was designed to defy the laws of physics." He murmured. Mirshahi nodded.

"And that's not all. This chakra amplifies the effectiveness of every system in his body. Respiratory, immune, digestive- seems that one's had a lot of stress put on it- circulatory, you name it." Mirshahi keyed up several different anatomical images and the information that went with them. "He even says that some people can use it to amplify their strength by several orders of magnitude. He says the only person he's seen do it can easily level a small building, but I'll believe that when I see it."

"… They sound more like superheroes than ninja." Trent remarked. "How much chakra can this guy produce?" Mirshahi did not answer, simply opting to show Trent another analysis image.

_Total amount of energy generated: 1.21 x 10__9_ W **(A.N.: Can you guess what this measurement is, and which movie I'm pulling it from?)**

"… That is a _lot_ of power." Trent finally said.

"No shit. Scarier though? The red chakra's about two thousand times more potent. He says it starts to damage him if he uses it too long though." Mirshahi added.

"Noted. Anything else?" Trent asked.

"Nah. The brass wants the report to see if they could use him for any special projects pretty soon though, so I gotta jump the next Pelican out in a couple of hours. Want a drink before I go?"

"Sure, s'long as you're paying."

"No way man, you got the bigger paycheck…"

* * *

_Date: 0453 hours, January 9, 2544 (8 years before the Halo Event)_

_Location: United Nations Space Command Frigate FFG-227 'Normandy'_

_Caries II (Status: Insurrectionist-occupied)_

_Rigel System_

_Naruto Uzumaki's Journal_

_Entry 93,_

_The last four years have been a real whirlwind. Going from a place where I've been raised as an assassin who relies almost completely on a world without any sort of advanced technology to one where we can travel to other planets faster than light was really a mind-bender. And the shit I had to learn! Guess it's a good thing I found out about the 'Hive Mind Effect' (Still can't think of something better to call that!) that comes with Kage Bunshin, or I'd probably still be learning how to speak English. Basic wasn't too bad; I've been through a lot worse than all those exercises and having a drill sergeant yell at me. Not digging the buzz cut though._

_That brings me to my next exciting experience: My first day on the job! A couple of the other new recruits tell me that this planet- Caries II, I think- is a dumping planet with a rebel problem. What the fuck is up with that? I signed on to fight some aliens!_

_Guess it kinda makes sense though. Send off the noobs to get some experience with rebels, get a feel for fighting before putting them up against a bunch of fucking genocidal maniacs._

_Anyway, I'm gonna miss my Pelican if I write any more. Lieutenant Perri wouldn't be too happy about that. Naruto Uzumaki, signing off._

Sixteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki, newly-minted Marine of the UNSC, closed his leather-bound journal and slipped it into his rucksack. Unlike some other Marines, who chose to use audio log recordings, he felt like holding onto a little bit of his past and insisted on using a book. He ran his hand over his bristle-covered head as he began to pull his armour on over his fatigues. He didn't like that they weren't brightly coloured, but at least they weren't uncomfortable. Ian Masters, a teenager native to Mars he had befriended in Basic, told him that he could add decorations to his armour after he got promoted or accepted into the ODST. He exited Charlie barracks aboard the aft quarter of the _Normandy_ as he was placing his MA37 Assault Rifle over his back and floated off towards the hangar.

It had been four years since he had entered this parallel universe, but he could never quell his amazement at the sheer size of it. It was like he had only been in a single classroom with its students for his entire life, and suddenly the doors had been opened to the rest of the school. He had known almost everyone he worked with back in Konoha. But now, in the UNSC, if he knew a handful of people, he considered himself lucky. Most of the crewmen didn't even acknowledge him as he floated by them in the zero-gravity environment, and he didn't see any of his fellow new recruits, suspecting them to have already arrived at the hangars.

The bulkhead door opened with a greased _swink_ sound, revealing the crowded hangar bay. The recycled air was heated from the warming engines of the three Pelican dropships about to be deployed to the surface of Caries II, as well as a pair of Albatross heavy dropships that would be bringing in supplies. Naruto pulled off of a large supply container and floated into Pelican India-33 just as the rest of the crewmen evacuated the airlock door.

"Way to almost miss the drop Uzumaki!" called the unmistakable voice of Ian Masters. Naruto finished strapping himself into the last seat available and looked over at the grinning Martian. Instead of launching into a verbal tirade, he simply opted for flipping up his middle finger. Masters laughed, but cut it short when the Pelican suddenly dropped, jarring the twelve Marines inside. For a moment the only sound was the whine of the engine.

"So," Naruto broke the silence amongst his fellows "first day on the job boys! Lemme hear some love!" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"**OOH-RAH!" **was the collective cry of the other Marines. Several of them pumped their fists in the air. For the rest of the ride to the surface of the unofficially-titled 'Garbage Planet', the Pelican was filled with Marines declaring that they couldn't wait to kick some Rebel ass, or bitching about not being able to blow alien brains out of their skulls. The ride took all of eight minutes before India-33 leveled off its descent and clunked down onto the landing pad of a UNSC firebase. The rear hatch of the Pelican hissed open and the Marines unlatched their restraints. The clank of their combat boots on metal was music to Naruto's ears as the twelve soldiers exited the dropship and jumped to the landing pad that was covered by all sorts of brown, black and green liquids that Naruto was pretty sure he didn't want to know about. The air was fetid and the sky was a glum grey, streaked with brown and yellow, clearly caused by the entire planet surface being covered in pollution. Mountains of scrap metal and plastic and glass shot up into the skyline from behind the base, which was situated in a bomb-blasted valley. Though hard to make out, the former ninja could have sworn that he saw the outline of a ruined _Marathon_-class cruiser perched on a crumbling pile of slag several kilometers away.

Naruto stopped staring at the skyline and concentrated on finding Lieutenant Charles Perri, whom he was supposed to report to upon arrival. As he scanned the handful of people still left on the landing pad, he eventually caught sight of a man with a triangular face and dark brown eyes. Messy dark blonde hair capped his head, and the lightswitch-esque insignia of a lieutenant was barely visible on the wheat-gold detail of his armour. Naruto blinked as he analyzed the man, concluding that he matched the description of Lieutenant Perri to the letter. With a purpose, Naruto marched over to the man.

"Lieutenant Perri?" he asked clearly and confidently, the use of formality leaving an odd taste in his mouth. The drill sergeants had been especially hard on him when trying to break his 'disrespect for authority' streak. He had lost count of how many times he had been run into the ground because he had saddled one of his instructors with a nickname.

Perri cocked his head sideways. "What is it, soldier?" he asked crisply, but with no irritation in his voice. Naruto prostrated himself and snapped to a salute.

"Private Uzu… Private Naruto Uzumaki reporting for duty, sir!" Naruto announced, almost falling back into using his family name first. Perri quickly returned the younger blonde's salute.

"Welcome to Caries II, Private. Follow me; I'll introduce you to your squad." Perri beckoned for him to follow, which Naruto did promptly. Questions burned in his mind, but he resisted the urge to ask them until Perri extended permission for him to ask questions.

No more words were said as Perri led him through the firebase, eventually ending their short gallivant when they reached the field armoury. Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he entered the large room filled to the brim with diagnostic computers, pieces of equipment and uncounted racks of guns. A soldier's dream.

"Uzumaki," Perri's crisp voice regained Naruto's attention. "Meet Assault Recon Team Bravo."

Naruto eyed up the five Marines in front of him. Traditionally, Assault Recon teams were composed of six soldiers: Two close range marksmen, two long range marksmen or snipers, a heavy weapons specialist and a medic. Naruto identified the long-range Marines easily enough by the M392 Designated Marksman Rifles, and the SRS99D Sniper Rifles they carried. The heavy weapons specialist was almost a scary sight to behold, mostly due to the bandolier of 40mm grenades slung across her body and the pair of 102mm RPGs attached to her shoulder blades. She held an M319 Grenade Launcher over her shoulder, and had an M19 SSM Rocket Launcher over her back. Unlike other Marines though, she had eight grenades hooked onto her belt. _'She's like a walking bomb factory!'_ The medic of the squad was easily identifiable by the large medkit over his back, the DMR he carried and the M6G Magnum on his right thigh. Naruto concluded that he was the replacement for one of the close range marksmen- the 'less' close range marksman- as his counterpart carried a Magnum and an M45 Tactical Shotgun.

**(A.N.: Since this part of the story is taking part pre-Halo trilogy, I'll mostly be using weapons seen in Halo: Reach)**

"Bravo Team, say hello to Private Uzumaki, AKA 'The Dimension-Hopping Ninja Kid'. He's your new rookie, and I expect you to show him the ropes, pronto." Perri instructed shortly as he turned tail and walked away.

"Welcome to Assault Recon Team Bravo, Uzumaki." Said one of the snipers. He was not wearing a helmet, and sported one of the shiniest chrome domes Naruto had ever seen, offset by his darker skin. His icy blue eyes carried a charisma Naruto had seen in very few people, and his long face was set in a decidedly laid back expression. His armour was mostly bare, but his right pauldron had a large silver bullet with the image of an open-mouthed skull decaled on it. If his choice of decoration said anything about him, it was that he considered himself a real hot-shot. Above his pauldron was a patch with three chevrons and a pair of crossed rifles. A Staff Sergeant.

"Kevin Jensen, Bravo's CO." Jensen identified himself. Naruto extended his hand, and Jensen shook it firmly.

"You some sorta hot-shot, sir?" Naruto asked with a grin. Jensen returned it good-naturedly.

"Ve call him 'Magic Bullet' sometimes." Said the heavy weapon specialist, her accent leading Naruto to conclude she was of Russian descent. She wasn't exactly pretty, but she wasn't ugly either. Her pale blonde, almost white hair was done up in a loose and short ponytail, but a couple of strands hung over her temples and forehead. Naruto was a little put off at how well her fatigues and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) variant armour hid her figure. Her armour, unlike Jensen's, was rocking a wolf motif. Her grey eyes conveyed cool boredom. Above her shoulders was the rank of Corporal: Two chevrons and a pair of crossed rifles.

"Elena Anotov-Michaels. You can refer to me as Michaels." Michaels introduced herself shortly. Naruto nodded in reply, shaking her hand. **(A.N.: If anyone can guess which book series Elena Michaels comes from, I'll send you some cyber-cookies.)**

"I hope pyromania doesn't run in your family ma'am." Naruto asked with a sarcastic grin. Michaels' mouth twitched up and she rolled her eyes.

"You's just a barrel of laughs, ain'tcha Uzumaki?" said the medic, his accent obviously from a life in New York City. He was pale as all get out, which just made his wavy black hair and small moustache seem even darker. His armour was red where regulation allowed it to be, and there was a white 'M' stamped onto his helmet. Seeing that letter M immediately clued Naruto into his name.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say your name's… Mario." Naruto guessed, screwing up his face in mock-thought. The medic smirked with an amused grunt.

"De Luce. Sergeant Mario De Luce." He extended his hand and shook Naruto's.

"You ever use the 'It's-a me, Mario!' line?" Naruto asked. De Luce snorted.

"I used it once when I first signed up. Almost ended up picking buckshot out of my ass for a week." He said with an amused grin. Naruto laughed.

"Not pleasant." He added as he turned his gaze to the second sniper. She was nowhere near as big as Michaels, but that generally meant nothing in the UNSC. Her rust red hair fell loosely over her shoulders, hiding some of her face and creating an air of mystery. Her dark green eyes were roving over him, their intensity coupled with her being rather hot only serving to make him uncomfortable. She didn't seem too much older than him either; she was _maybe_ twenty. He saw her thin lips twitch upwards as he averted his eyes slightly, as though she could tell he was trying to avoid undressing her in his mind. Unknown to Naruto, she was doing the exact same thing. Unlike Jensen, her DMR was stuck on her back and she held her sniper rifle at the ready. Her black armour probably served to make her harder to see from a distance and hiding in cover, the brightest spot being the single chevron and square under the arch denoting her rank as a Private First Class.

"Alma Gallagher," she introduced, extending her hand. Naruto managed a smile as he shook the pretty girl's hand. He almost turned pink when she winked at him, her long bangs hiding the gesture from her team.

"Y'know, you don't _look_ Japanese." Gallagher commented. Michaels and De Luce made gestures of agreement. Naruto cocked one of his eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Gallagher cocked her own eyebrow in answer to his.

"I mean, Japanese people tend to have a different skin tone than you and black or dark reddish hair. You on the other hand, have blonde hair, blue eyes and the whole 'sun-kissed' thing goin' on. You look like you've lived in California all your life or you're from somewhere like Germany or the Netherlands." Gallagher explained. Naruto blinked as he considered her explanation.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Thing is, every colour in the visible spectrum is viable for hair colour back home." Naruto told them, earning five looks of disbelief. "I'm serious! Here, look, this is what a girl I used to know looks like…" Naruto formed a single seal, and was enveloped in smoke with a loud _BANG_. Recon Team Bravo collectively flinched and gripped their weapons tighter. When the plume of smoke cleared, Assault Recon Team Bravo's jaws collectively dropped when they were faced with the frail-looking image of Haruno Sakura in her green-eyed, pink-haired glory.

"How… What the fuck?" asked the fifth member of Bravo. His armour, like Gallagher's, was also rather plain. Instead of black though, his was a sickly sort of yellow and hid a muscular body. His black hair stuck straight up and trailed down his cheeks in long sideburns. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair. What was interesting, Naruto noted, was that there appeared to be an extendable blade housing on his wrist armour. That nifty little feature made him look even more like Wolverine.

"Henge no jutsu. Translates to 'Transformation Technique', and it's one of the first skills ninja-in-training are taught." Naruto said in a perfect imitation of Sakura's voice, serving only to disconcert Bravo team even more.

"You can change your voice too? How does that work?" 'Wolverine' asked.

"Through the use of chakra. The reality of chakra is a little beyond my capability to explain, so I'll just abbreviate it to say that it's similar to magic; it fucks the laws of physics straight up the ass without any lube." Naruto said with a smirk after he changed back. Jensen grinned at the crude analogy; Michaels' eye twitched; De Luce and Gallagher laughed openly, and 'Wolverine' shook his head.

"Interesting way of putting it, kid. Lance Corporal James Hatton." Hatton finally revealed his name. Naruto shook his hand firmly.

"All right then, now that introductions are out of the way, it's time for business. Uzumaki, do you know the purpose of an Assault Recon team?" Jensen asked, going into 'professor' mode. Naruto stopped for a moment before answering.

"Not entirely certain, but I know for a fact that a recon group's purpose is to gather any and all information about designated hostiles in the area. Off the top of my head, I'd have to say an assault recon squad operates on the same principles, but with the added task of engaging the enemy, possibly to observe their firepower or identify the tactics they employ." Naruto answered.

"Not exactly textbook, but yes, you're essentially correct." Jensen said with a nod. "I expect you to keep that in mind as you saddle up; I want you all set to move out in ten." He ordered, going instantly to 'leader mode', getting a round of nods from his team.

Naruto took the time to grab a few extra clips for his AR and his pistol. He made sure they loaded properly, but to Gallagher and Michaels' amusement, almost shot himself in the foot.

* * *

"So sir," Naruto began loudly as their UH-144 Falcon rose from the ground, "what's our mission?" he finished, looking at Jensen with his eyebrows raised.

"A lot of people don't know it, but Caries II is a veritable gold mine, because of all the junk here. The UNSC has facilities on this planet that recycle the scrap metal from decommissioned or busted ships and turn them into parts for new ones. The Rebels have taken control of the facilities, and from the last ONI report, it looks like they're trying to build a big-ass hodgepodge battleship. It's up to us to report on the situation so the rest of the troops know what to expect when they get ready to dig in deeper." Jensen explained over the whine of the Falcon's dual rotors and the scream of its jet engines.

"Roger that." Naruto acknowledged. De Luce answered with a smirk and a loose salute. Naruto swiveled his head to stare into the open troop bay of the second Falcon, carrying Michaels, Hatton and Gallagher. Alma looked over and managed to lock eyes with him. She quickly shot a look to her teammates to ensure they weren't looking, and shot a wink at Naruto. He blushed at the slightly older, but quite attractive girl's flirtations, and managed to smile back. Neither of them saw De Luce smirking softly to himself.

'_Someone's got it BAAAAAAAAAAD!' _he said in a mental sing-song voice. Conversation dropped to a minimum for the remainder of the journey, which was all of almost half an hour. The Falcons began to drop from their high cruising altitude towards a blown out crater in the junk.

"This is as far in as I can take you without getting spotted! Sorry!" the pilot yelled.

"That's fine! Rendezvous with us at this point when we radio base!" Jensen hollered back as he jumped out of the Falcon and began scanning the area. Naruto cocked his AR as he joined his CO in scanning the area. De Luce followed suit. Not far away, Hatton, Michaels and Gallagher exited their Falcon and tightened up formation.

"Nervous, kid?" Hatton asked. Naruto made a 'Pfft!' sound of derision.

"Not in the slightest Hatton." Naruto shot back.

"Save the banter for later ladies. Move out!" Jensen commanded, taking point and leading the squad of six to the west. He led the group, scanning the fragmented, rusty and corrosive terrain with his sniper rifle. Naruto came second. Occasionally he would demonstrate feats commonplace in his world, such as leaping dozens of feet or sticking to a piece of scrap metal with his feet in order to survey areas Jensen or Gallagher could not see. Bravo Team though, had to stop and stare with slack jaws every time he did something even a Spartan could not do. Michaels and De Luce came third and fourth, Hatton came fifth, and Gallagher covered their six. Surprisingly, they encountered no opposition even when they reached one of Caries II's many refineries. The lack of the cacophony of metal on metal and the smell of molten garbage emitting from the enormous complex served to be even more disconcerting.

"Something here doesn't smell right." Michaels muttered, fingering her grenade launcher out of anxiety.

"You mean besides the planet-wide mountains of shit?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin. Michaels raised one of her eyebrows while Hatton snickered at Naruto's joke.

"I can see a nickname for you already, Uzumaki: 'The Comedian'." Gallagher announced dramatically. Naruto laughed. Jensen worked to restrain a grin of his own.

"As much as I love jokes on the job, Michaels is right. This refinery is _way_ too quiet for my liking." He said in a tone that suggested the jokes come to a screeching halt.

"Think they know we're comin'?" Gallagher voiced her theory.

"It is pretty close to our base. Maybe they just abandoned this one?" Hatton added.

"Both not likely, but possible. Gallagher, you and I will circle the perimeter. Uzumaki, Hatton, De Luce and Michaels, you're going in there. Full sweep of the factory. Radio silence until you find out what the hell happened in there." Jensen commanded. The four nodded and began their precarious descent towards the refinery. As the two close range soldiers, heavy weapons specialist and medic trudged through the garbage and scrap metal, no one heard the steps of an unseen figure over the sound of metal on metal.

* * *

Naruto activated the light on the end of his rifle as he peered inside the dark refinery entrance. Nothing moved except the dust and smoke. He raised his left hand and motioned for Michaels, De Luce and Hatton to follow him in. He kept his rifle raised and treaded slowly and lightly. Months of using silenced ninja zori when sneaking made the clanking of his metal boots seem all that much louder. He had to remind himself that he was looking for Rebel soldiers, not highly trained killing machines that could hear a pin drop at a hundred feet.

'_Fighting these guys is a lot easier than fighting ninja. You don't have to be as stealthy as you… Okay, that's not true. Ninja don't have guns either. And they don't have tanks, or spaceships or nukes or… Okay fuck it, this place has potential to be an assload worse than Konoha.' _Naruto grumbled inwardly after about ten minutes of blackness. The anticipation was getting on his nerves. He poked his head inside a small room with a console against the wall. On the console was a smattering of blood. In front of the console was a dead man in a chair, who seemed to be lacking a head. As if a decapitated man wasn't gross enough, Naruto's stomach lurched even further when he saw that- judging by the roughness of the rebel's remaining neck- the head looked like it had been _ripped_ off as apposed to sliced off. Didn't know why, but Naruto felt compelled to inspect the body further.

"What is it?" Michaels asked, hefting her grenade launcher just a little higher. It was at that moment that Naruto discovered that the dead rebel's spine had come with his head.

"Holy mother_fucker_!" Naruto cursed as he dropped his gun and bent over, willing himself not to vomit. His three fellow soldiers looked in, and their reactions varied.

Michaels felt her stomach lurch and promptly whipped back around the corner.

Hatton shook his head sadly and crossed himself, mumbling a prayer for the deceased.

De Luce grinned. _'I can see why Alma's attracted to the kid. What girl wouldn't want a guy with a butt like that?'_

When Naruto finally quelled his gag reflex and picked up his gun, he stepped out of the room. "I've seen some freaky shit, but I think that little scene takes the Number One spot." He stated. "And I think we can rule out desertion or an ambush as a reason for this factory being so empty." He added. Hatton nodded and activated his radio, attempting to reach Jensen and Gallagher.

"Who vould do such a thing?" Michaels asked.

"Shh!" De Luce hissed, moving to look past Michaels and further down the corridor. He raised his DMR and shone the light as far as an intersection in the hall, where a broken orange light flickered. "Kill the radio!"

"What?" Hatton asked as he readied his shotgun.

"I coulda sworn I saw somethin' movin' down there…" De Luce murmured. A faint shuffling sound answered his statement. Naruto pointed his rifle in the direction they had just come from, but saw nothing.

Silence reigned for almost twenty seconds.

"Anybody else want to _get the fuck outta here_?" Hatton growled.

"Hell yeah," De Luce agreed.

"Yes," said Michaels.

"Hear, hear!" Naruto ruled and began a brisk walk towards the exit. His fellow marines followed him just as quickly. Throughout their retreat, they whipped their heads about, catching flashes of something just outside their vision that had vanished by the time they looked. Although they would never admit it, their tactical retreat wasn't so much a 'tactical' retreat as a 'holy fuck I'm scared, run like hell' retreat.

And just as they were about to turn into the antechamber that connected to the entrance hall, their fear reached its high with a sound that any marine dreaded, in absolutely any situation.

"Wort, wort, wort!" the repeated sound was deep and warbling, and could not have been replicated by human vocal cords. As the contingent hesitated for just half a second, something pale blue lit up and flew in an arc from its original point in the air, indicating that it had been thrown. It landed in a small wedge above the open blast door, grew brighter, and exploded in a brilliant azure blast. The metal wall above the door became dislodged and came crumbling down with a grating shriek. Naruto and his fellow marines all startled and trained their lights upon the place where the grenade had appeared. As he squinted, Naruto's heart skipped a beat when he saw a shimmer in the air before him. It skipped again when the shimmer seemed to overlap another.

'_I don't think the Rebels are advanced enough to have created cloaking devices…'_ Naruto gulped when the shimmers took solid form: Three Sangheili. Their armour was dark silver, mixed with splashes of colour, and varied in appearance. Naruto guessed that the one in front, with the skull-shaped front and the forked pauldrons- an Ultra, if he remembered his Covenant Classification lectures correctly- was the leader, and the two behind him with the shark-like helmets and similar armour were his followers. The Ultra carried a long purple rifle with several pink needles extending from it, whereas his followers carried a simple Plasma Rifle and Needler respectively. Judging by the high-pitched growling and glowing green lights, Naruto concluded that several Grunts must be on their way to investigate the disturbance.

'_Well,' _his conscience began snidely, _'you said you wanted aliens; looks like you got em'.'_

* * *

**Dun-dun-DUUUH! What will happen to Naruto and his gang? Stay tuned to find out, but not after you enjoy my little addition to Reach-mania! I'm so excited! Aren't you? Please tell me after you:**

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